33. Archeological Investigations at the Jenny Lake
Developed Area, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.Connor, Melissa A

In conjunction with the redesign of the Jenny Lake Developed Area at Grand
Teton National Park, the archeological sites near Jenny and String lakes
were inventoried and, when necessary, tested. Four prehistoric sites were
impacted by the construction. The excavations conducted at the String Lake
site (48TE412) are reported by Winfrey (1994). The results of testing at
the remaining three sites, 48TE411, 48TE414, and 48TE1283, are reported
here.

Site 48TE411 is on the west side of the inlet of Cottonwood Creek.
Construction planned for 48TE411 consists of rehabilitation of social
trails, shoreline stabilization, and the burial of fuel tanks. The site
was recommended as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
The state of Wyoming did not concur and recommended further work before a
determination was made (Stephanson 1992). The 1992 fieldwork consisted of
surface collection and the excavation of five one-meter-square units. The
prehistoric portion of the site is badly disturbed by the historic
activities of the last 70 years. There are no sealed deposits on the site,
and the majority of the archeological material is within the top ten
centimeters of the soil. The damage from the proposed construction should
be considered mitigated.

Site 48TE414 is in the South Jenny Lake development. The site was
recommended as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The
National Park Service and the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office
concurred on this determination in a letter to the park superintendent on
May 11, 1992. Construction impacts included construction of paved trails
and retaining walls near the boat dock, moving buildings, the installation
of picnic facilities (toilets, tables, drinking fountains), rehabilitation
of the unused road bed, and the replacement of the existing water line.
Fieldwork consisted of surface collection, six backhoe trenches, and seven
excavation units. Two buried horizons were located on 48TE414. A Late
Prehistoric point and a radiocarbon date of 870 B.P. are associated with
the buried horizon uncovered in 1992. This assemblage also included a
basalt chopping tool containing residue that reacted positively to antisera
from bear blood. In another area of the site, Late Paleoindian projectile
points were associated with a buried horizon uncovered in previous testing
and relocated in 1992. Because of the presence of the buried horizons,
further construction projects on the site will need to be monitored or
mitigated on a project-by-project basis, unless a field season of
extensive excavation is undertaken.

Site 48TE1283 is in the String Lake picnic area. It was recommended as
eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, and the state of
Wyoming concurred in a letter to the park superintendent on May 11, 1992.
Construction impacts include the rehabilitation of social trails, the
creation of picnic sites and a lakeshore trail, and the construction of a
canoe launch. Fieldwork included surface collection, a backhoe trench, and
excavation of three units. The site is a surficial scatter with little
potential for buried archeological material. Further construction should
not require mitigation.

Due to the sensitive nature
of this subject this report is
available to professional
archeologists only. If you
order this manuscript we may
contact you for verification of
your profession.